1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a variable composition switching device that involves particularly:
on one hand, one or several switching devices, each one of which comprises at least one fixed contact unit, at least one mobile contact unit assembled on a mobile element designed to take at least two positions, i.e. one first position wherein the mobile contact unit is applied against the fixed contact unit (closed condition) and the second position wherein the mobile contact unit is separated from the fixed contact unit (open condition), and elastic means which exert a pull on the mobile element in order to make the mobile contact unit return to one or the other of the aforementioned positions, and PA0 on the other hand, at least one control and/or protection device capable of causing a change of state of the switch, by exerting on the mobile element an antagonistic action which counteracts the pull of the elastic means. PA0 manual control devices, PA0 automatic control devices, e.g. involving electromagnets, PA0 protective means that cause automatic switching of the interrupting device on the occurrence of disturbances in the current applied to the contact units. PA0 by lowering the stiffness of the elastic means associated with the mobile element; however, in the case of a normally closed type switch, this can only be achieved at the expense of the quality of the electric contact in the closed position, and/or PA0 by limiting inasmuch as possible the number of current-breaking devices associated with a single control device and decreasing the inertia of the mobile elements of these current-breaking devices, mainly by reducing the number of mobile contact carried by the mobile elements. PA0 at least one fixed contact unit, PA0 one mobile element carrying at least one mobile contact unit and able to move between two positions, i.e. one position in which the mobile contact unit is in contact with the fixed contact unit, and one position in which the mobile contact unit is separated from the fixed contact unit; PA0 elastic means acting on the mobile carriage with a force that tends to make it return to one of the two aforementioned positions, and PA0 one driving part rigidly attached to the mobile element or of a block with it, whereas this driving part features at least one bearing surface upon which a command force, antagonistic to the action of the elastic means can be exerted to move the mobile element into its second position, and on the other hand, at least one of the following modular components: PA0 one direct switching control modular component, including a direct action actuator able to exert on the bearing surface of at least one basic module a fast enough driving action with sufficient force to ensure proper switching of the switching device, and PA0 an indirect switching control modular component, including an actuator which, in response to a command which is too slow and/or has insufficient energy to ensure proper switching, acts on the bearing surface of at least one basic modular component by means of a potential energy accumulation tripping device. PA0 an actuator device that can successively take two stable positions pertaining to the two states described above, i.e. one tripped position whereby it exerts upon the bearing surface of the driving part of the current breaking device an antagonistic action to that of the elastic means in order to ensure that the mobile element remains in the second position, and one reset position whereby it enables the return of the mobile element to its first position; PA0 a potential energy accumulation system capable of storing potential energy during the setting phase and of returning it during the tripping phase, in the form of mechanical energy applied on the actuator to cause the mobile element to move from the first to the second position; PA0 a setting device, involving at least one setting part upon which energy can be applied during the setting phase and a setting mechanism designed to cause the actuator device, under the influence of the said energy, to move from its tripped position to its reset position, and at the same time to transmit part of the said energy to the accumulation devices, and PA0 a tripping unit involving at least one tripping part upon which at least one command action can be applied to induce the tripping phase, whereas this command action can be produced by one or several control and/or protective devices designed to cause a sudden change of state of the switch.
2. Description of the prior art
Various control and/or protective devices may be used in this type of switching devices; they may namely consist in:
These control and/or protective devices are usually designed so that the circuit-opening device switching is compatible with the function at hand.
For instance, in the case where the interrupting device is of the normally closed type, protective devices against overcurrents e.g. due to short-circuits, must be designed to induce rapid current breaking, to avoid damage to the contact units from the breaking arc.
To obtain high breaking speeds, two types of measures can be considered, whether separately or together.
The first type of measures consists in increasing the force applied by the control and/or protective device involved; however, if the resistant strength of the mobile element of the switch is high, this can lead to oversizing the control device and its associated components.
The second type of measures consists in minimizing the resistant strength of the mobile element:
It is apparent that these measures oppose the variable compositon principle proposed for the switching device described, which implies the possibility of multiple associations of elementary functions, and particularly the control of several switches, each one of which may comprise a variety of fixed and mobile contact elements, by a single control and/or protective device that requires high breaking speed.